"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made, and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” – Nelson Mandela
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."— Isaac Asimov
The idea that war today keeps us safe is a comforting lie.
War does not benefit anyone except the profiteers who supply both sides. It teaches a wholly immoral disregard for human safety and security and for life itself. It constantly kills literally countless innocent noncombatants, including women and children. It destroys people's homes and sends them scrambling as refugees looking for a place to live. It drives thousands of our finest soldiers crazy, generation after generation.
From War is a Racket by Marine General Smedley Butler, who was America's most decorated soldier: "I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." Full text: http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.
Also:
For an up-to-date account including the mideast wars, The End of War by U.S. Army Captain Paul K. Chappell: videos http://paulkchappell.com/.
and a new book (2015): Swords into Plowshares by Ron Paul (yes, THAT Ron Paul): http://www.amazon.com/Swords-into-Plowshares-Ron-Paul/dp/0996426507 From a review: "The wars are not only killing us, they are also making us poor. Dr. Paul does indeed deliver on all those points as well as observing that our unsustainable debt will someday soon bankrupt us. When that happens and Americans wake up one morning to find themselves broke and hopeless it will finally be time to throw the bums out. Many will even figure out that there is a connection between the warfare state funded on borrowed money and the bottom dropping out of the economy. That is when the last American soldiers will come home from Afghanistan and the troubadours will sing ‘Ain’t gonna study war no more.’” http://www.unz.com/article/turning-swords-into-plowshares/
How Schools Set Kids Up to Fail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWBoA3Hpn8A "Solve this problem and school will heal itself: Children know that schooling is not fair, not honest, not driven by integrity. They know they are devalued in classes and grades, that the institution is indifferent to them as individuals. The rhetoric of caring contradicts what school procedure and content say, that many children have no tolerable future and most have a sharply proscribed one. The problem is structural. School has been built to serve a society of associations: corporations, institutions, and agencies. Kids know this instinctively. How should they feel about it? How should we?"
Also see below on this page: Working Class Hero by John Lennon
Overview of the economy Blog comment by a citizen "There are three general kinds of political perspectives: 1) those who blame the republicans, and work towards getting more democrats in power. 2) those who blame the democrats, and work towards getting more republicans in power. 3) those that realize that both the republicans and the democrats are controlled by bankers and corporations, and that the media itself is controlled by bankers and corporations. The banks don't use real money. Instead they use CECM - Counterfeit Electronic Credit Money. This is why everyone is in debt and this is why the banks and corporations have so much power. How can you free yourself from some entity that is allowed to issue fake money while you have to work for it? This very thing is the great divide between those that have long realized the truth and those that have not. In the end you find a divided society incapable of mobilizing against a shadow enemy, because those that actually understand the truth are too few in number." --https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B_BgHip19
Some of the Fast-Growing Flaws in the Higher Education System
Over 2300 Architects and Engineers have declared that 9/11 could not possibly have happened the way the government says it did: http://www.ae911truth.org/
Wealthy doesn't necessarily mean greedy "The Patriotic Millionaires are a group of more than 200 Americans with annual incomes over $1 million and/or assets of more than $5 million who believe that the country’s current level of economic inequality is both dangerous and immoral. "They recognize that while there are many causes of inequality, the current level of economic disparity is largely the result of a multi-decade effort by wealthy elites to enact legislation designed to enhance their personal wealth and their political power. This is done with little or no regard for the negative consequences such policies have on the vast majority of Americans." To read about their efforts and get on their list, go to http://patrioticmillionaires.org
The economic future: ”The biggest story that the mainstream media is not covering” BRICS, the new financial alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa RT anchor: “This is the biggest story that the mainstream media is not covering.” Though the US has for decades maintained the top spot in the world in terms of economic power, the increasingly popular BRICS bloc—of which India and China are members—has American officials worried about their ability to exert power. Former Reagan administration Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic PolicyPaul Craig Roberts explains: “The basis of American power is the dollar. It's the world reserve currency, which means the United States can pay its bills by printing money. It faces no financial constraint. That’s the basis of American power. China can see that the United States does not like the rise of other countries. It knows that China is in the crosshairs, not just Russia. So China is taking steps to remove some of the power that the United States has to try to control or intimidate China. So yes, they are purposely and consciously trying to create a trade system in which the role of the dollar disappears, because that means as the demand for the dollar falls, the value of the currency falls. ---- The Chinese are smart; they are responding to what they see as a threat from Washington, a military threat.” See news story, video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AUf3Pgz3WA . Two minutes on data privacy that'll surprise you
Are you letting your Apps read your personal information and even control and change it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcjtEKNP05c Video: Hillary Clinton worries about how alternative media is gaining more trust than the official media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyjnEm8DZkI
Are conspiracy theories valid?
See this analysis by University of South Florida Public Policy Professor Lance deHaven-Smith: http://dehaven-smith.com/faq/default.html
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken a stand against vaccines "The overwhelming scientific consensus supports vaccine use and dismisses any serious side effects. But some parents fear information about the hazards of vaccines has been suppressed, largely because of what they call the pharmaceutical industry’s influence over health officials. Many parents believe their children have been damaged by vaccines. When Kennedy asked the crowd of a few hundred viewers how many parents had a child injured by vaccines, numerous hands went up. Kennedy said, 'They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone. [...] This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country,' he said." Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article17814440.html#storylink=cpy Video of Kennedy’s speech: http://www.globalresearch.ca/robert-f-kennedy-jr-on-vaccines-big-pharma-has-captured-the-scientific-regulatory-law-making-processes/5442453?print=1
Senator Elizabeth Warren calls for restrictions on big banks Senator Warren: "The opponents of financial reform have cast the debate as rules vs. markets, that somehow anyone who believes in rules is anti-market. Rules are not the enemy of markets. They protect markets from blowing up. The real fight isn't between markets and rules. And it never has been. It's between competitive capitalism and crony capitalism." Markets don't work, she explained, if regulators won't enforce the rules and prosecutors won't prosecute criminals. Warren also re-iterated her belief that breaking up the biggest banks should remain a top priority. http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/16/warren-blasts-government-ignoring-blatantly-criminal-activity-wall-street
Has the American dream been betrayed?
"The public’s trust in public speech, whether by politicians or in the media, has disintegrated, and to such a degree that it has undermined the possibility of straightforward communication in the public sphere. The expectation is that any statement made either by a politician or by a media outlet is a false ideological distortion. As a result, no one blames politicians for making false statements or statements that obviously contradict that politician’s beliefs."
--Jason Stanley, Philosophy professor at Rutgers University, in "Speech, Lies and Apathy," The Stone, The New York Times, August 30, 2012.
“Washington policymakers, Republican and Democratic alike, have collaborated with leaders on Wall Street to create an economy that caters only to the biggest multinational corporations and very wealthiest households, leaving most Americans and most U.S businesses to scrap for limited leftovers, [according to Barlett and Steele]. Much of their information, including many of their most damning quotes and assessments, comes directly from government reports.”
"The Betrayal of the American Dream" (Public Affairs Press), by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, 2-time Pulitzer Prize winners. Review by LAURA IMPELLIZZERI, Associated Press, Aug. 2 2012.
One of the most prominent ethics issues of our times is whistleblowing.
The 2013 film The Fifth Estate purports to tell the story of Wikileaks, the most successful whistleblowing site, and its founder Julian Assange.
Assange and associates state that the film neglects to focus on the most important aspects of Wikileaks.
For a documentary view from Swedish Public Television (in English), use this link:
"I never, ever voted .... As long as the priorities of those in government remain the interests of big business, rather than the people they were elected to serve, the impact of voting is negligible, and it is our responsibility to be more active if we want real change."
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Just War Theory
In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary.First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private individual to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the tribunal of his superior. . .. . Secondly, a just cause is required, namely that those who are attacked, should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault. . .. . . Thirdly, it is necessary that the belligerents should have a rightful intention, so that they intend the advancement of good, or the avoidance of evil.
Hence Augustine says: “True religion looks upon as peaceful those wars that are waged not for motives of aggrandizement, or cruelty, but with the object of securing peace, of punishing evil-doers, and of uplifting the good.” For it may happen that the war is declared by the legitimate authority, and for a just cause, and yet be rendered unlawful through a wicked intention. Hence Augustine says: “The passion for inflicting harm, the cruel thirst for vengeance, an unpacific and relentless spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and such like things, all these are rightly condemned in war.” (II-II, Q. 40, art. 1).In addition to the criteria Aquinas lays out for going to war, namely, right authority, just cause, and just intent,
just war theory also includes attention to the way the war is fought.In other words, the war ought to be proportional. It ought to use only enough force to respond to the threat at hand.
Question: what about the systematic killing of noncombatants and civilians, as in (1) World War II firebombing of Japanese and German towns and cities (2) Vietnam War massacres of civilians (3) present-day drone attacks that routinely kill children and other innocents, known as collateral damage?
Government surveillance?
36 minute TED talk by Edward Snowden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwAodrjZMY
"We cannot throw away all of our rights... because we are afraid of rare instances of criminal activity." --Edward Snowden
Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald confronts an abrasive BBC anchor on why Snowden chose journalists to reveal his story, and why Snowden does not aid terrorism but only tries "to prevent people in power from lying to those they govern." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Zvo8N3G94#t=96
"Nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide" is a quote from Nazi leader Josef Goebbels:
4 1/2 minute video by a new whistleblower, former NSA official https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhe-SiqE1i4#t=25
Working Class Hero by John Lennon
'As soon as you're born, they make you feel small/By giving you no time instead of it all"
Video of the song with scenes from his life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG7p6CSbCU
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made,
and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” – Nelson Mandela
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
- Arthur Schopenhauer
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."— Isaac Asimov
See http://www.ThriveMovement.com
for a comprehensive positive futuristic worldview with frequent updates
Important breaking news: the US created ISIS, armed and trained them, and still does so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyY1EibndmU
How to Tell a Terrorist from a Muslim
Cartoon and news story http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/17/1450855/-Cartoon-How-to-tell-the-difference-between-ISIS-and-Muslims?detail=emailclassicGeorge Carlin on the Illusion of Freedom and the Transfer of Wealth from the Poor to the Rich
6 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_LrQSMTTD4Why Your $4 Hamburger Costs the Earth $200
http://cookingupastory.com/raj-patel-the-value-of-nothingCheap food is not cheap. Can you wrap your mind around the fact that this $4 burger is partially brought to you by slave labor? Watch this 4 minute video.
War is a Racket
The idea that war today keeps us safe is a comforting lie.War does not benefit anyone except the profiteers who supply both sides. It teaches a wholly immoral disregard for human safety and security and for life itself. It constantly kills literally countless innocent noncombatants, including women and children. It destroys people's homes and sends them scrambling as refugees looking for a place to live. It drives thousands of our finest soldiers crazy, generation after generation.
From War is a Racket by Marine General Smedley Butler, who was America's most decorated soldier:
"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives."
Full text: http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.
Also:
For an up-to-date account including the mideast wars,
The End of War by U.S. Army Captain Paul K. Chappell: videos http://paulkchappell.com/.
and a new book (2015):
Swords into Plowshares by Ron Paul (yes, THAT Ron Paul): http://www.amazon.com/Swords-into-Plowshares-Ron-Paul/dp/0996426507
From a review: "The wars are not only killing us, they are also making us poor. Dr. Paul does indeed deliver on all those points as well as observing that our unsustainable debt will someday soon bankrupt us. When that happens and Americans wake up one morning to find themselves broke and hopeless it will finally be time to throw the bums out. Many will even figure out that there is a connection between the warfare state funded on borrowed money and the bottom dropping out of the economy. That is when the last American soldiers will come home from Afghanistan and the troubadours will sing ‘Ain’t gonna study war no more.’” http://www.unz.com/article/turning-swords-into-plowshares/
How Schools Set Kids Up to Fail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWBoA3Hpn8A"Solve this problem and school will heal itself: Children know that schooling is not fair, not honest, not driven by integrity. They know they are devalued in classes and grades, that the institution is indifferent to them as individuals. The rhetoric of caring contradicts what school procedure and content say, that many children have no tolerable future and most have a sharply proscribed one. The problem is structural. School has been built to serve a society of associations: corporations, institutions, and agencies. Kids know this instinctively. How should they feel about it? How should we?"
Also see below on this page: Working Class Hero by John Lennon
Too Smart? Want to Lower Your IQ? Smoke Pot
http://www.sott.net/article/158376-Heavy-marijuana-use-can-shrink-brain-studySome sources of alternative news and views
http:www.activistpost.com (general news; under its Resources tab, includes valuable sources of alternative news)http://www.wanttoknow.info (amazing comprehensive website providing verifiable truth behind coverups as well as stress reduction resources and tactics for righting the wrongs)
http:www.sott.net ("SOTT" stands for Signs of the Times) - general. "Revealing the global trends that the mainstream media won't touch."
http://www.commondreams.org (general, compilation from various reliable sources)
http://www.veteranstoday.com (selected by and for former military personnel)
http:www.theantimedia.com (general, comprehensive)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info (general, "for global justice," daily updates)
http://www.counterpunch.org (general, compilation, features Noam Chomsky)
http://www.globalresearch.ca (general, comprehensive Canadian source)
htttp:www.ajplus.net (paste into browser if won't click through):
"AJ+ is a global news community for the connected generation. We highlight human struggles and achievements,
empower impassioned voices, and challenge the status quo."
http://www.truthdig.org (general, compilation)
http://www.brasscheck.com (videos, compilation)
http://www.theantimedia.org/category/news/
http://www.truthbarrier.com (medical specialty)
Compilations by individual journalists:
http://www.unz.com (general, compilation)
http://www.russbaker.com (general; Bush family expose)
http://www.jonwiener.com (general)
http://www.sharylattkisson.com (conservative, general; vaccines)
http://www.resilience.org (general; from the Post-Carbon Institute)
http://www.tomdispatch.com (general)
Two comprehensive news sources with real-time broadcast and archives, both video and print:
--Russia Today (RT) on TV and on the web: http://.www.rt.org - streaming video
--Al Jazeera news on TV and on the web: http://www.aljazeera.com and in SoCal, Channel 114 on Verizon
These secret documents demonstrate that the administration kills innumerable civilians:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/11/06/drone-papers-revelations-are-cry-ending-slaughter
Video: 64% of US reporters believe that Washington is spying on them; many are considering quitting journalism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqGpNDW7yLw#t=20//
Overview of the economy
Blog comment by a citizen
"There are three general kinds of political perspectives: 1) those who blame the republicans, and work towards getting more democrats in power. 2) those who blame the democrats, and work towards getting more republicans in power. 3) those that realize that both the republicans and the democrats are controlled by bankers and corporations, and that the media itself is controlled by bankers and corporations. The banks don't use real money. Instead they use CECM - Counterfeit Electronic Credit Money. This is why everyone is in debt and this is why the banks and corporations have so much power. How can you free yourself from some entity that is allowed to issue fake money while you have to work for it? This very thing is the great divide between those that have long realized the truth and those that have not. In the end you find a divided society incapable of mobilizing against a shadow enemy, because those that actually understand the truth are too few in number." -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B_BgHip19
Some of the Fast-Growing Flaws in the Higher Education System
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/10/26/higher-education-capitalism-its-most-despicableFive Basic Issues Regarding 9/11
5 Hard Facts Americans Forgot About 9/11 After Being Reminded Every Year to “Never Forget”! link: http://www.activistpost.com/2015/09/5-hard-facts-americans-forgot-about-911-after-being-reminded-every-year-to-never-forget.html
Over 2300 Architects and Engineers have declared that 9/11 could not possibly have happened the way the government says it did:
http://www.ae911truth.org/
Wealthy doesn't necessarily mean greedy
"The Patriotic Millionaires are a group of more than 200 Americans with annual incomes over $1 million and/or assets of more than $5 million who believe that the country’s current level of economic inequality is both dangerous and immoral.
"They recognize that while there are many causes of inequality, the current level of economic disparity is largely the result of a multi-decade effort by wealthy elites to enact legislation designed to enhance their personal wealth and their political power. This is done with little or no regard for the negative consequences such policies have on the vast majority of Americans." To read about their efforts and get on their list, go to http://patrioticmillionaires.org
Depression: is it personal or political?
http://www.thenation.com/article/asking-for-a-friend-is-it-me-or-is-it-capitalism/Opinion: Why Russia is winning the information war
http://mediaroots.org/rt-vs-msm-propaganda-amidst-the-new-cold-war/
Health: Diabetes is Readily Curable, A Fact Suppressed by the Pharmaceutical Companies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_GInjBeQU
Another cure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da1vvigy5tQ
The Lie We Live, an 8 1/2 minute view of the human story today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipe6CMvW0Dg&feature=youtu.be
"False flag" operations have become increasingly common to justify aggression by many countries
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag
A directory of videos of astute "deep state" analyst Peter Dale Scott:
The economic future: ”The biggest story that the mainstream media is not covering”
BRICS, the new financial alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
RT anchor: “This is the biggest story that the mainstream media is not covering.” Though the US has for decades maintained the top spot in the world in terms of economic power, the increasingly popular BRICS bloc—of which India and China are members—has American officials worried about their ability to exert power.
Former Reagan administration Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy Paul Craig Roberts explains: “The basis of American power is the dollar. It's the world reserve currency, which means the United States can pay its bills by printing money. It faces no financial constraint. That’s the basis of American power. China can see that the United States does not like the rise of other countries. It knows that China is in the crosshairs, not just Russia. So China is taking steps to remove some of the power that the United States has to try to control or intimidate China. So yes, they are purposely and consciously trying to create a trade system in which the role of the dollar disappears, because that means as the demand for the dollar falls, the value of the currency falls. ---- The Chinese are smart; they are responding to what they see as a threat from Washington, a military threat.” See news story, video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AUf3Pgz3WA
.
Two minutes on data privacy that'll surprise you
Are you letting your Apps read your personal information and even control and change it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcjtEKNP05c
Video: Hillary Clinton worries about how alternative media is gaining more trust than the official media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyjnEm8DZkI
Videos: How the mass media is systematically used to lead the world into war:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4P2O8UjQeU&list=TLehOUqFjHAjo//
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp-Wh77wt1o#t=40
Article: How mainstream media eliminated public debate on the US's new 2014 attacks in the middle east.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/14/new-war-rages-study-finds-mainstream-media-silences-debate
Are conspiracy theories valid?
See this analysis by University of South Florida Public Policy Professor Lance deHaven-Smith:
http://dehaven-smith.com/faq/default.html
Conspiracy Theory and Conspiracy Denial
9-11 Conspiracy Denial Well Stated and Well Debunked:
http://911review.com/reviews/progressive/markup/rothschild.html
CIA implants "conspiracy theory" phrase in national media in 1967
http://www.thrivemovement.com/news-flash-cia-invents-conspiracy-theory.blog
http://www.jfklancer.com/CIA.html
Obama advisor recommends infiltrating conspiracy research groups
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken a stand against vaccines
"The overwhelming scientific consensus supports vaccine use and dismisses any serious side effects. But some parents fear information about the hazards of vaccines has been suppressed, largely because of what they call the pharmaceutical industry’s influence over health officials. Many parents believe their children have been damaged by vaccines. When Kennedy asked the crowd of a few hundred viewers how many parents had a child injured by vaccines, numerous hands went up.
Kennedy said, 'They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone. [...] This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country,' he said."
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article17814440.html#storylink=cpy
Video of Kennedy’s speech: http://www.globalresearch.ca/robert-f-kennedy-jr-on-vaccines-big-pharma-has-captured-the-scientific-regulatory-law-making-processes/5442453?print=1
GMOs: no scientific consensus on their safety. Read this peer-reviewed study & make up your mind:
http://www.enveurope.com/content/pdf/s12302-014-0034-1.pdfon%20safety
Senator Elizabeth Warren calls for restrictions on big banks
Senator Warren: "The opponents of financial reform have cast the debate as rules vs. markets, that somehow anyone who believes in rules is anti-market. Rules are not the enemy of markets. They protect markets from blowing up. The real fight isn't between markets and rules. And it never has been. It's between competitive capitalism and crony capitalism." Markets don't work, she explained, if regulators won't enforce the rules and prosecutors won't prosecute criminals. Warren also re-iterated her belief that breaking up the biggest banks should remain a top priority.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/16/warren-blasts-government-ignoring-blatantly-criminal-activity-wall-street
Has the American dream been betrayed?
"The public’s trust in public speech, whether by politicians or in the media, has disintegrated, and to such a degree that it has undermined the possibility of straightforward communication in the public sphere. The expectation is that any statement made either by a politician or by a media outlet is a false ideological distortion. As a result, no one blames politicians for making false statements or statements that obviously contradict that politician’s beliefs."
--Jason Stanley, Philosophy professor at Rutgers University, in "Speech, Lies and Apathy," The Stone, The New York Times, August 30, 2012.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/speech-lies-and-apathy/
“Washington policymakers, Republican and Democratic alike, have collaborated with leaders on Wall Street to create an economy that caters only to the biggest multinational corporations and very wealthiest households, leaving most Americans and most U.S businesses to scrap for limited leftovers, [according to Barlett and Steele]. Much of their information, including many of their most damning quotes and assessments, comes directly from government reports.”
"The Betrayal of the American Dream" (Public Affairs Press), by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, 2-time Pulitzer Prize winners. Review by LAURA IMPELLIZZERI, Associated Press, Aug. 2 2012.
One of the most prominent ethics issues of our times is whistleblowing.
The 2013 film The Fifth Estate purports to tell the story of Wikileaks, the most successful whistleblowing site, and its founder Julian Assange.
Assange and associates state that the film neglects to focus on the most important aspects of Wikileaks.
For a documentary view from Swedish Public Television (in English), use this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PvmfOaZ34Pk
MASSIVE SOCIAL CHANGE?
"I never, ever voted .... As long as the priorities of those in government remain the interests of big business, rather than the people they were elected to serve, the impact of voting is negligible, and it is our responsibility to be more active if we want real change."
--Russell BrandInterview: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/24-6
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Just War Theory
In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary.First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private individual to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the tribunal of his superior. . .. . Secondly, a just cause is required, namely that those who are attacked, should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault. . .. . . Thirdly, it is necessary that the belligerents should have a rightful intention, so that they intend the advancement of good, or the avoidance of evil.
Hence Augustine says: “True religion looks upon as peaceful those wars that are waged not for motives of aggrandizement, or cruelty, but with the object of securing peace, of punishing evil-doers, and of uplifting the good.” For it may happen that the war is declared by the legitimate authority, and for a just cause, and yet be rendered unlawful through a wicked intention. Hence Augustine says: “The passion for inflicting harm, the cruel thirst for vengeance, an unpacific and relentless spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and such like things, all these are rightly condemned in war.” (II-II, Q. 40, art. 1).In addition to the criteria Aquinas lays out for going to war, namely, right authority, just cause, and just intent,
just war theory also includes attention to the way the war is fought.In other words, the war ought to be proportional. It ought to use only enough force to respond to the threat at hand.
Question: what about the systematic killing of noncombatants and civilians, as in (1) World War II firebombing of Japanese and German towns and cities (2) Vietnam War massacres of civilians (3) present-day drone attacks that routinely kill children and other innocents, known as collateral damage?
Government surveillance?
36 minute TED talk by Edward Snowden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVwAodrjZMY
"We cannot throw away all of our rights... because we are afraid of rare instances of criminal activity." --Edward Snowden
Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald confronts an abrasive BBC anchor on why Snowden chose journalists to reveal his story, and why Snowden does not aid terrorism but only tries "to prevent people in power from lying to those they govern."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Zvo8N3G94#t=96
"Nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide" is a quote from Nazi leader Josef Goebbels:
4 1/2 minute video by a new whistleblower, former NSA official
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhe-SiqE1i4#t=25
John Lennon on peace - about 7 mins
For pointed comments on what the average person can do, view from 5:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kw52mG1EzU&t=56
Working Class Hero by John Lennon
'As soon as you're born, they make you feel small/By giving you no time instead of it all"
Video of the song with scenes from his life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG7p6CSbCU
Bob Marley's Redemption Song
Marley was a strong voice for peace, justice and freedom, silenced by a covert operation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1RVyJiGYes
Also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=s1RVyJiGYes
Clip from JFK by Oliver Stone covering several key points on the removal of Kennedy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSw9sjqYK_I
Understanding today's criminal justice system: why innocent people plead guilty, by Federal District Judge Jed S. Rakoff
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/why-innocent-people-plead-guilty/
The future of education?
8 min. video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2HrHXSuYM#t=12
Were You Raised by a Narcissist?
Many of us were. This can be a huge cause of stress.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/6-ways-to-know-you-were-raised-by-narcissists_5616b091e4b0082030a18f72?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living